Breaking the chain of infection in our homes and everyday lives: a practical approach to encourage effective Targeted Hygiene

This material is designed to enable the public, and those who communicate with the public, to understand how to practise effective hygiene in our homes and everyday lives in public spaces, to reduce spread of infections, including food borne and other intestinal infections, respiratory infections, skin infections etc. It is based on the Risk Management approach developed by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene, called Targeted Hygiene.

Key to the approach is to focus on hygiene as the public see and experience it, as a set of interrelated, interdependent actions performed throughout daily life, to target protection from exposure to harmful microbes:

Firstly, they need to be prompted to recognise “WHEN” there is need to practise hygiene

Secondly, they need to be able to recognise “WHERE” to act to prevent spread.

Finally, they need to know “HOW” to practise hygiene at each intervention point.